Arachnophobia and Other Differences
by I-Write-Upon-My-Whims
Summary: Peter Parker didn't expect to receive a Barnes scholarship, but he didn't expect not to. Nerdy and awkward, maybe his fun-loving roommate and the redhead he meets at his first party are just what he needs. Matt is, as ever, on watch for the underdog and is mrs than willing to take Peter under his wing. Probably some friendly fluff to counteract the pain that is Marvel.
1. Chapter 1: Peter Meets his Roommate

**Don't own Marvel.**

* * *

When Peter Parker had won a Barnes scholarship to Columbia, he'd felt like he was in a dream. Standing in front of the college now, it still didn't feel real.

"Peter?" Uncle Ben grasped his shoulder. Aunt May had offered to come, but Peter was glad that Uncle Ben had taken him. Aunt May would have been as awed as Peter, and that would have been too much. Uncle Ben was steady and strong even in the face of such an imposing college. Peter doubted he'd have gotten through high school without his uncle, let alone gotten the Barnes. "You've worked hard for this. You excited?"

"I still can't believe it," Peter said. He clutched his suitcase more tightly and started toward the dorms again. Uncle Ben didn't let go of him, and Peter tried to memorize the feeling of his uncle's hand, a rock for the next few months.

Peter was too excited-or nervous-to wait for the elevator, so he pulled his suitcase on up the stairs, ahead of Uncle Ben. His uncle laughed and followed, panting a little. The suitcase was hard to pull over the steps, and Peter himself was panting at the top of the stairs, and leaned against the wall to catch his breath.

"Your aunt would take this as a sign you're going to kill yourself through overexertion your first week here," Uncle Ben said.

"I'll tell her it's part of my daily training regimen. Pull a suitcase up a flight of stairs, then another. It'll make Petey nice and strong." Peter stood up. "Or we could wait for the elevator. But just because it's what Aunt May would want."

"Of course." Uncle Ben pressed the elevator call button himself. It opened a moment later and four people spilled into the hall. They seemed confident, talking amongst thenselves, and Peter felt small and young, even though he was taller than three of them. Peter and Uncle Ben got into the elevator.

"Six, right?" Peter checked his dorm info again. "Yeah." He pressed the button and clutched his suitcase as the elevator went up. This was it. The doors opened with a ding and Peter and his uncle stepped out. "6H," Peter said.

He and Uncle Ben walked by A, B, C, etc. The numbers were some sort of silvery material, the door polished-looking light wood. They stopped in front of H.

"I have the key," Peter said. He put it in the lock and turned. The doorknob was a bronzeish fake metal that clashed with the letters on the door. It didn't bother Peter too much, but he hoped that no design students roomed there.

"It's not locked," someone called from inside as soon as he'd started to jiggle the knob.

"It's guess your roommate got here first," Uncle Ben said.

"Yeah." Peter pushed the door open and looked around the room before stepping in. The walls were a basic beige and the couch was tan. The coffee table looked like wood, but it was too matte to be real.

Sitting on the couch was a blonde guy throwing a red bouncy ball at the ceiling like a kid in a '90s sitcom. He was about Peter's height, but more thin than skinny and more long than lanky. His feet were up on the coffee table, which Peter didn't mind, but the guy's demeanor, the way he was so comfortable in the room, made Peter nervous.

"Johnny Storm," the kid said, catching his ball. "You?"

He threw the ball at Peter, not that fast, but Peter still barely caught it, and dropped it promptly. Johnny smiled, not unkindly, but it seemed like he was sizing Peter up all the same.

"Peter Parker. I guess we're roommates?"

"The bedroom's through there." Johnny pointed. "I got the bed by the window."

"Okay," Peter said. He dragged his suitcase through the room, not catching it on the rug, and set it on the bed not by the window. It looked like Johnny had had some time to unpack already, and his stuff was on the shelves by his bed and on his desk. Johnny had also put a pile os posters on his bed, presumably to put on the walls later. Peter was glad of that. If Johnny had posters, he couldn't argue with Peter's Posters.

Peter started to set out his books, then thought the better of it, and decided to say goodbye to Uncle Ben. He went back to the living room.

"Well, Pete," Uncle Ben said, "Call me if you need anything."

"Bye," Peter said. He didn't want to hug his uncle goodbye in front of Johnny, so he followed Ben to the hallway for the real farewell. Uncle Ben put his hands on Peter's shoulders and looked into his eyes. Uncle Ben's eyes were a light blue, kind of like Albus Dumbledore's in their depth. Then he pulled Peter into a hug. Peter held on, not wanting to let go. But he had to. Uncle Ben looked into his eyes once again.

"Peter: if these kids ever make you feel bad, just remember that you worked twice as hard and won the best scholarship Columbia has to offer. You've got a responsibility to yourself and to the world to make the best of it."Uncle Ben pulled him into a hug. "That's not to say don't have fun, but use your own judgement and no one else's. With great power-"

"-comes great responsibility," Peter finished. "Thank you, Uncle Ben."

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 **Haha! I have two stories I need to update and so obviously I had to start another. Have fun. Reviews and stuff are appreciated, but even plain ol' reads are treasured. :)**


	2. Chapter 2: Foggy Slowly Folds Clothes

Still don't own Marvel.

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"I'm done." Matt closed his drawer. "How much longer are you gonna take?"

"Umm..."

Matt sat back on his heels. "The seniors next door moved out. I want to make the new freshmen feel welcome."

"How are you done?" Foggy sighed. "Nothing's fitting right in my drawer."

"Maybe you should've folded your clothes first?" Matt laughed and scooted to where Foggy's voice was. He bumped into Foggy's suitcase. "Ooh, this is a mess." Matt plunged his hand into the sea of cloth.

"In sorry, Mr. Murdock. We can't all be neat freaks." Foggy opened another drawer, the wood scraping as it slid out. "I think I need to learn how to iron."

Matt started working on Foggy's wrinkled wardrobe. "It's slobs like you that give college students a bad name."

"I'm not going to argue that one." Foggy paused. "Still, I think college students are plenty good at giving themselves bad names without my help."

"It's not your help. You are a college student. You're not helping, you're participating." Matt shook his head.

Foggy laughed. "You're not?"

"I've been folding less than a minute and I am willing to bet that my pile is at least one third of the height of yours."

"You'd be wrong," Foggy said. "How much was the bet for?"

"You've really folded that much?" Matt laid the surprise on thick.

"It's half."

"Taking unfair advantage of the blind guy? Franklin, I'm surprised at you."

"You're annoying."

"Hurry up." Matt shook out another shirt. "Pretend you're The Flash."

Finally, they finished with Foggy's closet. Matt stood.

"Here, girl," he said. Almost instantly, Heidi's cold, wet nose was nuzzling the palm of his hand. "What a good girl."

"Did you say you wanted to go see the new neighbors?" Foggy squeezed past Matt and opened the door.

"Let's go get your harness on, okay?" Matt followed Foggy out the door and got Heidi's leather harness and stiff, U-shaped leash from where he'd left them on the coffee table. He passed the straps under Heidi and buckled them into place. She licked his cheek and barked gently in appreciation. "I was thinking getting them muffins or something first."

"All right, Mrs. Murdock, president of the neighborhood welcoming commitee." Foggy laughed as he followed Matt out of the dorm.

"Heidi, remember where the bakery is?" Matt asked. Heidi set out confidently.

"She can probably smell it or something," Foggy said. "Those beautiful lemon poppyseed cookies."

Heidi stopped, and Matt knew from experience it was at the elevator. The elevator dinged and slid open. A few people came out.

"Foggy! Matt!" Matt recognized Trevor, their across-the-hall neighbor. "Hi, Heidi. Now can I pet her?"

"Not in the harness." Matt smiled. He and Trevor had Ben having the same good-natured argument since they first met the previous year.

"See ya, guys."

"See ya," Foggy said.

Trevor sounded like he was lugging something heavy. Probably some exercise equipment, knowing him. Matt and Foggy got into the elevator and Foggy pressed the button.

At the bottom, Matt could tell that Heidi was excited. She didn't tug, but she was more buoyant as she led Matt to the bakery.

"She smells the bakery," Foggy said. "Her nose is pointed straight up. Looks like the statue of liberty."

"She's a good girl." Matt smiled at Heidi.

Heidi's tail brushed the leash in its excited wagging. She stopped. Matt reached his foot out and found the curb. He had taken this walk so may times the previous year. The wall to the bakery made it seem like the school year was really starting.

"Forward." Heidi kept on the route.

"We're getting muffins for ourselves, too, right?" Foggy caught up to Matt. "Or just the freshmen? Sophomores never got us muffins."

"One of those kids is this year's Barnes recipient. They emailed me to welcome him." Heidi stopped and Matt pushed open the door to the bakery. The bell jingled overhead.

"Nelson and Murdock!" Baker Sam, not to be confused with Deli Sam and Librarian Sam, called out from behind the counter. "Here for some lemon poppyseeds?"

"Yes!" Foggy stood in front of Matt. "Definitely."

"And a muffin assortment," Matt said, nudging Foggy aside. "I want to welcome our new neighbor freshmen."

"First day of school discount," said Baker Sam. "47% off freshman welcome packages."

"47?" Foggy asked.

"My favorite number." Matt listened to Baker Sam wrap the muffins. "Just make sure to tell the where you got such amazing, delicious baked goods, eh?"

"We'll advertise this place to the ends of the earth," Foggy said. "Right, Matt?"

"Just give me a sandwich board," Matt joked.

"That comes to $22.00 for the muffin assortment and lemon poppyseeds," Baker Sam said. Matt got his wallet. The neatly folded bills told him instantly which denominaton was which.

"I got eleven," Foggy said. They paid and took their treasure with them.

* * *

Peter felt more relaxed. Johnny already seemed entitled, but he was casual and friendly and made Peter feel at home. All of Peter's books and clothes were unloaded and he'd given himself a break on the couch.

There was a knock on the door, Johnny, already standing, eating an apple, answered. Peter craned his neck to look into the doorway. There were two guys and a dog. They were carrying a brown bag.

"Hi," Johnny said, and took a bite of his apple.

"I'm Matt," the tall redhead said.

"And I'm Foggy."

"And you're watching Disney channel," Johnny said, sounding vaguely amused. "What do you want?"

"We're the sophomores next door," Matt said. "If were going to be neighbors all year, we figured we should get to know each other. Are you okay with dogs?"

"Hey Pete," Johnny called into the room, "are you allergic to dogs?"

"No," Peter said. He was only allergic to spiders and mangoes.

"Come on in." Johnny stepped back.

"Forward," Matt said to the dog. She padded into the room. With his dark glasses and extra-fancy dogwalking gizmos, Peter figured Matt must be blind.

"We brought muffins," Foggy said, holding up the bag.

"Um, oh," Pete said. "You guys wanna sit down or something?"

"Thanks," Foggy said. He grinned at Peter and slung himself into the couch. Matt followed, and the dog curled up by his feet. Johnny walked past Peter and took the brown bag Foggy was carrying.

"Blueberry? Sweet." Johnny tossed his apple into the trash and took a muffin instead.

"Sam's Bakery," Matt said. "Highly recommended."

"Not to be confused with Sam's Deli. Or Sam who works in the library," Foggy said.

Johnny raised an eyebrow.

"How many Sams are there?"

"At least those three. There's also a Sam down the hall."

"And janitor Sam," Matt added. "Anyway. When we were freshmen last year, we were awkward and nervous."

"And we're guessing you're awkward and nervous," Foggy said. "Well. Maybe not you." He pointed at Johnny, mouth full of muffin.

"If it gets me muffins, I'm awkward and nervous." Johnny shrugged. "Pete, want a muffin?"

"Try the lemon poppyseed," Matt said. "Those are my favorite."

"Okay," Peter said. He took a lemon poppyseed muffin out of the brown back Johnny had put on the counter.

"You're Peter Parker, right?" Matt was absently petting his dog's head.

"Last time I checked," Peter said.

"You got the Barnes this year?" Matt grinned.

"Yeah." Was it a big thing? Were people going to drop by and ask?

"I got it last year for law," Matt said, standing and sticking out a hand to shake. Peter went to shake it, hopefully fast enough that it wasn't weird for Matt and not so fast that Foggy thought Peter was being weird. Matt's handshake was firm and his smile was friendly. "You?" He let go.

"Science," Peter said. "I'm a bioengineering major."

"Wow," Matt said. "That's impressive."

"Thanks. You too. For the law thing." Peter was sure that Matt was have worked harder than he himself had, whatever Uncle Ben said.

"Matt is annoyingly intelligent. I'm warning, you, Johnny, never play a trivia game with Peter. Barnes winner have to win or the scholarship is revoked."

Peter laughed. It was a joke. Definitely. Actually, Foggy looked pretty serious. But Matt was laughing. It was a joke.

"I've learned that lesson with my brother-in-law," Johnny said.

"He's a science dude too." Johnny took another muffin from the bag and bit in. "He even has a formula to win Monopoly," Johnny said with his mouth full.

"I'm not a fan of Monopoly," Matt said. "I think it's all luck."

"So did I, till I played Reed," Johnny said. "He takes the fun out of putting no work into stuff and winning anyway."

Matt laughed.

"So, Johnny," Foggy said, "What are you majoring in?"

"Yesterday it was business," Johnny said, "but today I like the idea of art history. Or maybe filmmaking."

"That was me last year." Foggy laughed. "I started with law, got scared, then Matt convened me to go back to the requirements for going to law school."

Johnny tossed his muffin and caught it again. "I'm not gonna sweat it. I don't think it's fair we're supposed to decide what we want to do when we're still kids, you know?"

 _Life's not fair,_ Peter thought. "I guess," he said aloud.

"I guess Foggy and I should go finish putting away our dorm," Matt said. "If you wanna be shown the ropes, or just wanna talk, we're right next door."

"Thanks," Peter said. "And thanks for the muffins, that was really nice." He mentally slapped himself right after he said that. It sounded so dorky. _Really nice._ Who said that?

"Our pleasure," Matt said, not sounding like he thought Peter was dorky at all. "Come on, Heidi."

The dog hopped up and guided Matt around the coffee table and Johnny's suitcase that was sitting in the middle of the walkway. Foggy waved at Peter and Johnny before he shut the door.

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 **I love you all! I'm midway through a real important essay so of COURSE I just HAD to update. I love procrastination almost as much as I love all of you guys! Wait. I really do love you guys. You're the best. Al of you.**

 **Feedback and other comments appreciated.**

 **3**


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